PIKE: No tariff-caused problems in Pike County… yet
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By BETH ZUMWALT
The threat of looming tariffs have caused unease in the retail world. Raw materials such as lumber, aluminum, steel and other metals as well as produce and plastic items, such as toys, are causing anxiety in several facets of the sales industry.
“When they first starting talking about tariffs on Canada, we stocked up on lumber,” Nick Grote, of Pike County Lumber said. “We thought we’d keep prices down as much as we could for as long as we could.”
Grote said not only does the proposed tariffs on lumber affect the building industry, but, the tariffs are also expected to hit the steel, metal and other materials as well.
He said a lot of items are made in the United States, but, have foreign produced parts in them.
“Nails, screws, that sort of stuff can be made in the United States, but, if the products that are used to make those items are from another country, then the tariffs will affect them,” Grote said.
Grote said Pike County Lumber has recently launched a new website and added a paint line in an effort to keep products that people need for projects local and to let customers know about pricing.
“During Covid, a lot of people pushed projects back, but, now they are ready to get them done,” Grote said. “Nationwide, the lumber business is down, but, we are actually up.”
Tim Roach of Ace Hardware, said being part of a national chain, he doesn’t really have insight into items that may be in short supply or hard to get.
“Our suppliers haven’t told us anything,” he said. “At this time we have no empty shelves.”
He said Ace did some front loading in an attempt to beat the tariffs.
“We are going to try not to pass a lot of cost onto our customers,” Roach said. “Right now everything is fully in stock and about the same price as it was.”
Dave Rubison, manager of County Market in Pittsfield, said the store has had no issues .
“We were hit with the egg shortage when everyone else was,” he said. “But that seems to have leveled out.”
He said all produce is coming in on schedule and prices are not fluctuating that much.
The proposed tariff’s have been an on and off again schedule since early January. The United States imposed tariffs on nearly every country that does business with the United States. In return, those counties have imposed retaliatory tariffs on goods they import from the U.S. Those tariffs are expected to raise prices as well as cause shortages in some areas. Tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China would have the biggest impact on the American consumer if imposed.
